Sherdog’s Top 10: Training Camps

Cain Velasquez sharpened his skills at the American Kickboxing Academy. | Photo: Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com

4. American Kickboxing Academy

The American Kickboxing Academy has been a fixture at the highest levels of MMA for years now. Trainers Javier Mendez and Bob Cook have been around for a very long time and bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to their training of some of the sport’s greatest fighters. It was B.J. Penn’s home base early in his career; Josh Thomson has been there for years; the welterweight triumvirate of Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck and Mike Swick excelled in that division for years; and a new generation of fighters both large and small has risen to the fore.

Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, light heavyweight challenger Daniel Cormier, middleweight contender Luke Rockhold and rising lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov are just a few of AKA’s stable of fighters, and it is safe to assume that all-everything prospect Aaron Pico will soon join his wrestling brethren in San Jose, Calif., in the near future. Wrestling is the gym’s strength -- team captain and two-time freestyle Olympian Cormier also runs a kid’s wrestling club out of the location -- and it complements that prowess with a heavy top-control game, brutal pressure and solid striking.

AKA has taken in both older fighters in need of rejuvenation and brought up young fighters from the very beginning of their careers. The coaches are sharp and talented; the facilities are world-class; and the gym’s close relationship with Zinkin Entertainment and the clothing company Dethrone provides attractive all-around packages for fighters. The American Kickboxing Academy has been a model of consistency for a long time, and it only seems to have gotten better with time.

Number 3 » American Top Team